View source for Religion in Chile

{{Short description|none}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2023}}
{{Pie chart
|thumb = right
|caption = Religion in Chile (2021 estimate)<ref name="auto1">[https://encuestabicentenario.uc.cl/wp-content//uploads/2022/01/Encuesta-Bicentenario-2021-Religion.pdf "Encuesta Nacional Bicentenario 2021: Religión"]</ref>
|label1 = [[Catholicism]]
|value1 = 46
|color1 = purple 
|label2 = Other [[Christian]] 
|value2 = 15
|color2 = Blue
|label3 = [[Irreligion|No religion]]
|value3 = 37
|color3 = Beige
|label4 = Others
|value4 = 2
|color4 = grey
}}
[[File:20130119 Chile 1716 Santiago crop (8520711928).jpg|thumb|[[Santiago Metropolitan Cathedral]]]]
{{Religion by Country}}
[[Christianity]] is the most widely professed '''religion in Chile''', with [[Catholicism]] being its largest denomination. The country is [[secular]] and the [[freedom of religion]] is established under its [[Chilean Constitution of 1980|Constitution]].

Historically, the [[indigenous peoples in Chile]] observed a variety of religions before the [[Conquest of Chile|Spanish conquest]] in the 16th century. During [[Colonial Chile|Spanish rule]] and the first century of Chilean independence, the [[Catholic Church]] was one of the most powerful institutions in the country. In the late 19th century, liberal policies (the so-called ''Leyes laicas'' or "lay laws") started to reduce the influence of the clergy and the promulgation of a [[Chilean Constitution of 1925|new Constitution]] in 1925 established the [[separation of church and state]].

A 2023 AmericasBarometer<ref>{{Cite web | title=Archived copy | url=https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/lapop.central/viz/LAPOPV3_4/Combination | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112184259/https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/lapop.central/viz/LAPOPV3_4/Combination | archive-date=2024-01-12}}</ref> survey revealed that almost 40% of the Chilean population is unaffiliated, making Chile the second least religious country in Latin America, after [[Uruguay]].

==Demography==

In the last census in Chile, in the year 2002, indigenous people make up 5 percent (780,000) of the population. 65 percent of indigenous people identify themselves as Catholic, 29 percent as evangelical, and 6 percent as "others." 

In 2022, Chilean affiliations were 88% Christian (mainly Catholic), 0.15% Baha'i, 0.1% Jewish, 0.1% Muslim and 10% non-religious.<ref>[https://www.thearda.com/world-religion/national-profiles?u=47c The Association Of Religion Database Archives website, Retrieved 2023-07-14]</ref>

Members of the largest religious groups (Catholic, Pentecostal, and other evangelical churches) are numerous in the capital and are also found in other regions of the country. Jewish communities are located in [[Santiago, Chile|Santiago]], [[Valparaíso]], [[Viña del Mar]], [[Valdivia, Chile|Valdivia]], [[Temuco]], [[Concepción, Chile|Concepción]], [[La Serena, Chile|La Serena]], and [[Iquique]] (although there is no [[synagogue]] in Iquique). [[Mosque]]s are located in Santiago, Iquique, and [[Coquimbo]].<ref name="religiousfreedomreport"/>

Mapuche communities, constituting 87% of indigenous citizens, continue to respect traditional religious leaders ([[Lonco|Longkos]] and [[Machi (shaman)|Machis]]), and anecdotal information indicates a high degree of [[syncretism]] in worship and traditional healing practices.<ref name="religiousfreedomreport">{{cite web
|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108518.htm
|title=Chile - International Religious Freedom Report 2008
|publisher=[[United States Department of State]]
|date=2008-09-19
}}</ref>

== Religious affiliation and practices ==
=== Evolution ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ UC-Adimark Bicentennial Survey<ref name="UC Adimark 2017">{{cite web|title=Encuesta Nacional Bicentenario 2017: Religión|url=http://encuestabicentenario.uc.cl/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/UC-Gfk-ADIMARK_Religio%CC%81n.pdf|publisher=encuestabicentenario.uc.cl|access-date=3 November 2017|language=es}}</ref><ref name="UC Adimark 2016">{{cite web|title=Encuesta Nacional Bicentenario 2016: Religión|url=http://encuestabicentenario.uc.cl/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Encuesta-bicentenario-2016-Religio%CC%81n.pdf|publisher=encuestabicentenario.uc.cl|access-date=3 November 2017|language=es}}</ref><ref name="auto1"/>
|-
! Year
! Catholic
! Protestant/Evangelical 
! Unaffiliated
! Other religions
|-
|2006||70%||14%||12%||4%
|-
|2007||66%||18%||14%||3%
|-
|2008||67%||14%||15%||4%
|-
|2009||67%||16%||13%||4%
|-
|2010||63%||17%||17%||3%
|-
|2011||63%||15%||18%||4%
|-
|2012||59%||18%||19%||4%
|-
|2013||61%||17%||19%||4%
|-
|2014||59%||16%||22%||3%
|-
|2015||61%||16%||21%||2%
|-
|2016||58%||18%||20%||3%
|-
|2017||59%||17%||19%||4%
|-
|2018||58%||16%||21%||3%
|-
|2019||45%||18%||32%||5%
|-
|2021||42%||14%||37%||6%
|}

=== Importance of religion ===
According to a 2015 [[Pew Research Center]] report, Chileans who say religion is very important in their lives has decreased from 46% in 2007 to 27% in 2015. Twenty percent said religion is "Not at all important."<ref name="PEW importance">{{cite web|url=http://www.pewglobal.org/files/2016/01/Pew-Research-Center-Importance-of-Religion-TOPLINE-FOR-RELEASE.pdf|title=Pew Research Center Spring 2015 survey: Importance of Religion|website=pewglobal.org|publisher=Pew Research Center|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705234048/http://www.pewglobal.org/files/2016/01/Pew-Research-Center-Importance-of-Religion-TOPLINE-FOR-RELEASE.pdf|archive-date=2018-07-05|url-status=dead|access-date=3 November 2017}}</ref><ref name="imgur">{{cite web|url=https://imgur.com/download/SXOjSpH/ |title=Q158. How important is religion in your life? |format=PNG |access-date=18 July 2018}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="6" | How important is religion in your life?
|-
! Year
! Very important
! Somewhat important 
! Not too important
! Not at all important
! Don't Know/Refused
|-
|2007||46%||31%||11%||10%||3%
|-
|2013||39%||32%||18%||10%||0%
|-
|2015||27%||34%||17%||20%||2%
|-
|2021||23%||25%||32%||19%||1%
|}

==Legal and policy framework==
[[File:Memorial-for-non-catholics2.jpg|thumb|A modest memorial for the Protestants buried at the hillside of the [[Cerro Santa Lucía]] in Santiago de Chile. Until 1871, the Catholic Church forbade the burial of "dissidents" in cemeteries.<ref>Memoria Chilena, [http://www.memoriachilena.cl/602/w3-article-3561.html Los cementerios en el siglo XIX]</ref>]]
The [[Chilean Constitution of 1980|Constitution]] provides for [[freedom of religion]]. On June 28 2022, the Constitutional Convention approved a draft constitution that included four paragraphs establishing freedom of religion as a fundamental right.<ref>[https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/chile/ US State Dept 2022 report]</ref>

Church and state are officially [[Separation of church and state|separate]]. The 1999 law on religion prohibits [[religious discrimination]]; however, the Catholic Church enjoys a privileged status and occasionally receives preferential treatment. In 2006, government officials were attending Catholic events as well as major Protestant and Jewish ceremonies.<ref name="religiousfreedomreport"/>

The Government observes [[Christmas]], [[Good Friday]], the [[Our Lady of Mount Carmel|Feast of the Virgin of Carmen]], the [[Feast of Saints Peter and Paul]], the [[Assumption of Mary|Feast of the Assumption]], [[All Saints' Day]], and the [[Feast of the Immaculate Conception]] as [[public holiday|national holiday]]s.<ref name="religiousfreedomreport"/>

The law allows any religious group to apply for legal public right status (comprehensive religious nonprofit status). The Ministry of Justice may not refuse to accept a registration petition, although it may object to the petition within 90 days on the grounds that all legal prerequisites for registration have not been satisfied. The petitioner then has 60 days to address objections raised by the Ministry or challenge the Ministry in court. Once a religious entity is registered, the state cannot dissolve it by decree. The semiautonomous Council for the Defense of the State may initiate a judicial review; however, no organization that has registered under the 1999 law has subsequently been deregistered.<ref name="religiousfreedomreport"/>

In addition, the law allows religious entities to adopt a charter and by-laws suited to a religious organization rather than a private corporation. They may establish affiliates (schools, clubs, and sports organizations) without registering them as separate corporations.

During 2006, 516 religious organizations registered under the 1999 law and gained legal public right status, bringing the total to 1,659 registered religious groups.
Publicly subsidized schools are required to offer religious education twice a week through high school; participation is optional (with parental waiver). Religious instruction in public schools is almost exclusively Catholic. Teaching the creed requested by parents is mandatory; however, enforcement is sometimes lax, and religious education in faiths other than Catholicism is often provided privately through Sunday schools and at other venues. Local school administrations decide how funds are spent on religious instruction. Although the Ministry of Education has approved curriculums for 14 other denominations, 92 percent of public schools and 81 percent of private schools offered only Catholic instruction. Parents may homeschool their children or enroll them in private schools for religious reasons.<ref name="religiousfreedomreport"/>

==Religious freedom==
The [[Chilean Constitution of 1980|constitution]] Chile provides for the freedom of religion, although it stipulates that this freedom must be not be “opposed to morals, to good customs or to the public order". It further establishes a separation between church and state, and other laws prohibit religious discrimination.<ref name=":usirf17">''[https://www.state.gov/reports/2017-report-on-international-religious-freedom/chile/ International Religious Freedom Report 2017 § Chile]'' US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.</ref>

Religious organizations are not required to register with the government, but may do so to receive tax breaks. Religious groups may appoint chaplains to provide services in hospitals and prisons. Officially registered groups may appoint chaplains for the military.<ref name=":usirf17" /> The celebration of a Catholic Mass frequently marks official and public events. In 2006, membership in the Catholic Church is considered beneficial to a military career.<ref name="religiousfreedomreport"/>

All schools are required to provide two hours of religious education per week, tailored to the religious affiliations of the students. The majority of such courses focus on a Catholic perspective, but the government has approved curricula for 14 different religious groups. Parents may also choose to excuse their children from such classes.<ref name=":usirf17" />

According to [[Christian Solidarity Worldwide]], arsonists attacked Baptist and Catholic churches in the primarily indigenous [[Mapuche]] communities in the rural [[Araucanía Region|Araucania Region]] in 2017. According to other sources, the church attacks fit into a pattern of sabotage directed at a wide range of institutions, business interests, and infrastructure in Araucania, and thus may not necessarily have been intended as a religiously-motivated attack. As of the end of 2017, a trial was still pending for the arson suspects, and the regional government verbally committed itself to helping rebuild the churches.<ref name=":usirf17" />

Leaders of the Jewish community have expressed concerns about incidences of antisemitic vandalism and graffiti targeting Jews.<ref name=":usirf17" />
{{Pie chart
|thumb = right
|caption = Catholic Church Approval (2017)
|label1 = Approve
|value1 = 32
|color1 = DodgerBlue
|label2 = Disapprove 
|value2 = 56
|color2 = Turquoise
|label3 = Don't Know/No Answer
|value3 = 12
|color3 = Grey
}}
The National Office of Religious Affairs facilitates inter-religious dialogue and promotes tolerance of religious diversity.<ref name=":usirf17" />

In 2023, Chile was scored 4 out of 4 for religious freedom.<ref>[https://freedomhouse.org/country/chile/freedom-world/2022 Freedom House website, Retrieved 2023-07-14]</ref>

==Christianity==
===Catholicism===
{{main|Catholic Church in Chile}}
[[File:Iglesia de Achao.jpg|thumb|The Catholic [[Churches of Chiloé]] have been declared part of the [[UNESCO World Heritage]].]]
As with most of Latin America, Catholicism is the main religion in Chile since its introduction during the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas]] although their figures have declined significantly in the last decade. In 2022, the Vatican noted that 74% of the population was Catholic.<ref>[https://www.catholicsandcultures.org/chile Catholics And Culture website, Retrieved 2023-07-14]</ref>

Catholicism was introduced by priests with the Spanish colonialists in the 16th century. Most of the native population in the northern and central regions was evangelized by 1650. The southern area proved more difficult and Catholicism settled in the area after the [[Occupation of the Araucania]] in the late 19th century. In the 20th century, church expansion was impeded by a shortage of clergy and government attempts to control church administration. Relations between church and state were strained under both [[Salvador Allende]] and [[Augusto Pinochet]].

The [[Catholic Church]] is one of the largest organizations in the country. There are five archdioceses, 18 dioceses, two territorial prelatures, one apostolic vicariate, one military ordinariate and one personal prelature ([[Opus Dei]]). Usually, the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile|archbishop of Santiago]] acts as the head of the church in the country, although the [[Holy See]] is represented officially by the [[Apostolic Nunciature to Chile]].

The Catholic Church is currently one of the principal providers of education (including universities) and health care in the country and is involved in several initiatives to support different charities. Its record in higher education is exceptional. The QS World Universities Rankings ranked [[Pontifical Catholic University of Chile]] the best university in the country and second best in all of Latin America.<ref>QS World University Rankings, 2024.</ref> However, the support of the Chilean population has decreased in the last decades, especially after diverse cases of [[Catholic Church sexual abuse cases|sexual abuse by Catholic members]] have been published. According to a survey conducted in October 2017 by Plaza Publica Cadem, 56% of Chileans disapprove the performance of the [[Catholic Church in Chile]], whilst 32% approve.<ref name="Catholic church approval 2017">{{cite web|title=Track semanal de Opinión Pública 9 de Octubre 2017 Estudio Nº 195|url=http://plazapublica.cl/wp-content/uploads/Track-PP-195-OctS1-VF.pdf|publisher=Plaza Pública Cadem|access-date=3 November 2017|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224064211/http://plazapublica.cl/wp-content/uploads/Track-PP-195-OctS1-VF.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Protestantism===
{{Main|Protestantism in Chile}}
[[File:Templo Luterano Frutillar a.jpg|thumb|The Frutillar Lutheran Temple is a [[List of National Monuments of Chile|National Monument of Chile]]]]
Protestants represented 2.5% of Chilean people in 2022.<ref>[https://www.thearda.com/world-religion/national-profiles?u=47c ARDA website, Retrieved 2023-07-14| Association of Religion Data Archieves website]</ref> Protestants first arrived in the first half of the nineteenth century, with American missionary David Trumbull<ref>{{cite web |url=http://libweb.ptsem.edu/collections/ead/trumbull_david.html |title=Princeton Theological Seminary Library |publisher=Libweb.ptsem.edu |access-date=2013-09-21 |archive-date=27 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227104325/http://libweb.ptsem.edu/collections/ead/trumbull_david.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and with German immigrants from Protestant parts of Germany, mainly [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]].  Later, representatives from [[Anglicanism]], [[Presbyterianism]], [[Baptists]], [[Seventh-day Adventist Church]], [[Methodism]], [[Pentecostalism]], and other Protestant denominations began work in the country.

Seventh-Day Adventist missionaries first arrived in 1895,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://adventistatlas.org/ViewCountry.asp?CtryCode=cl |title=Chile |publisher=Adventist Atlas |access-date=2013-09-21 |archive-date=23 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130923061811/http://adventistatlas.org/ViewCountry.asp?CtryCode=cl |url-status=dead }}</ref> today there are estimated 126,814 Adventists in Chile.

===Latter-day Saints (Mormonism)===
{{Main|The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chile}}
[[File:Templo de Santiago, Providencia 20220501 01.jpg|thumb|[[Santiago Chile Temple]]]]

Early apostle [[Parley P. Pratt]] was among the first Mormon missionaries to preach in Chile, landing in Valparaiso in November, 1851, along with Elder Rufus Allen and Phoebe Sopher, one of Pratt's wives, who was pregnant at the time. The mission party was impressed by the Chilean countryside and people. Pratt wrote that the people he met in Chile were “a neat, plain, loving and sociable people; very friendly, frank, and easy to become acquainted with,” but the mission trip met with tragedy when the Pratt's month-old son died in January 1852.<ref name="vqronline.org">[http://www.vqronline.org/webexclusive/2007/10/01/cordero-mormon-chile/ The Biggest Little Mormon Country in the World | Kristina Cordero | The Virginia Quarterly Report]</ref> Hampered by language difficulties and a lack of literature in the Spanish language (selections of the Book of Mormon were not translated into Spanish until 1875<ref>{{citation |contribution-url= http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/EoM/id/5553 |contribution= Book of Mormon Translations |first= Hugh G. |last= Stocks |pages= 213–214 |editor-last= Ludlow |editor-first= Daniel H |editor-link= Daniel H. Ludlow |year= 1992 |title= [[Encyclopedia of Mormonism]] |location= New York |publisher= [[Macmillan Publishing]] |isbn= 0-02-879602-0 |oclc= 24502140 }}</ref>) the missionaries left Chile after four months without having a successful baptism.<ref name="vqronline.org"/> Pratt used his experience in South America to advise [[Brigham Young]] that the success of future missionary efforts would be based on translations of the scriptures.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gordonbanks.com/gordon/family/ppprattauto.htm |title=Autobiograph of Parley P. Pratt, 1807-1857 |publisher=Gordonbanks.com |access-date=2013-09-21}}</ref>

Missionary work in Chile began in earnest in 1956, when the country was made part of the Argentine mission and the first small branch was formed.<ref name=Newsroom>[https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/chile "Chile: Facts and Statistics"], ''Newsroom'', 2020. Retrieved on 22 March 2020.</ref> By 1961, the country had 1,100 members and the Chilean mission was organized. The following three decades saw explosive growth in church membership, with the church membership doubling every two years at its peak.<ref name="vqronline.org"/> The growth sparked a building boom during these decades. Hundreds of LDS chapels were constructed, capped by the dedication of the [[Santiago Chile Temple|Santiago Temple]] in 1983. Church growth continued in the 1990s, with the country having the greatest growth in LDS membership in South America during the decade. Between 1994 and 1996, 26 new stakes were dedicated in the country.<ref name=Newsroom /> A second temple, in [[Concepción Chile Temple|Concepción]], was announced in 2009. The Antofagasta Chile Temple, Chile's third temple, was announced on April 7, 2019, by President Russell M. Nelson in his concluding remarks at the Sunday Afternoon Session of General Conference.<ref>Cox, Erin and Ellis, Joshua [https://fox13now.com/2019/04/07/church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-announces-8-new-temples-renovations-of-pioneer-era-utah-temples/ "Latter-day Saint leaders announce eight new temples"], ''[[KSTU|Fox News]]'', 7 April 2019. Retrieved on 22 March 2020.</ref>

Although an average of 12,000 people were baptized annually between 1961 and 1990, membership growth has slowed and the church has a large number of inactive members. According to census data, 0.9% of the population claims to be Mormon, based upon those aged 15 and over who identify themselves as Mormon. The church itself reports that it has 543,628 members in Chile, which is equal to about 3.2% of the population. If accurate, these numbers makes the LDS Church the single largest denomination in Chile after Catholicism.<ref name=Newsroom /> LDS statistics counts everyone baptized, including children age eight or older as well as inactive members. In 2002, the church sent Elder [[Jeffrey R. Holland]], a member of the [[Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (LDS Church)|Quorum of the Twelve Apostles]], to remain in Chile for a year to train leadership and minister to the church, a role typically held by members of the quorums of the seventy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thechurchnews.com/archive/2010-01-28/country-information-chile-34874 |title=Country information: Chile |publisher=Church News |date=2010-01-28 |access-date=2013-09-21}}</ref>

Jorge F. Zeballos, a former mining engineer, is a Chilean-born LDS [[General Authority]]. He was called to the First Quorum of the Seventy in April, 2008.<ref>[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/leader/jorge-f-zeballos?lang=eng "Elder Jorge F. Zeballos"], ''[[Church News]]'', 2020. Retrieved on 22 March 2020.</ref> Zeballos is the second Chilean to serve as a General Authority following Eduardo Ayala, who served in the Second Quorum of the Seventy from 1990 to 1995.

===Jehovah's Witnesses===
In 2024, the number of [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] was 88,592 active [[Jehovah's Witnesses practices#Evangelism|publishers]], united in 974 [[Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses#Congregations|congregation]]s; 188,741 people attended annual celebration of [[Lord's Evening Meal]] in 2024.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.jw.org/es/biblioteca/libros/Informe-mundial-de-los-testigos-de-Jehov%C3%A1-del-a%C3%B1o-de-servicio-2024/Informe-del-2024-por-pa%C3%ADses-y-territorios/}}</ref>{{bsn|date=March 2025}}

== Baháʼí Faith ==
{{Main|Bahá'í Faith in Chile}}
{{See also|Santiago Baháʼí Temple}}
[[File:Templo Bahá'í de Sudamérica (32383136153).png|thumb|[[Santiago Baháʼí Temple]].]]

The [[Baháʼí Faith]] in Chile begins with references to Chile in [[Baháʼí literature]] as early as 1916, with the first Baháʼís visiting the country as early as 1919. A functioning community wasn't founded in Chile until 1940 with the beginning of the arrival of coordinated [[Pioneering (Baháʼí)|Baháʼí pioneers]] from the [[United States]] finding national Chilean converts and achieved an independent national community in 1963. The US government estimated 6,000 Baháʼís in Chile as of 2007<ref name="irf">{{cite web | url = https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2007/90246.htm | title = International Religious Freedom Report 2007: Chile | access-date = 2008-03-08 | date = 2007-09-14 | publisher = State Department | author = Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor}}</ref> though the [[Association of Religion Data Archives]] estimated some 26,400 Baháʼís in 2010.<ref name="ARDA2010">{{cite web |title=QuickLists: Most Baha'i (sic) Nations (2010) |work=[[Association of Religion Data Archives]] |year=2010 |url=https://www.thearda.com/QL2010/QuickList_40.asp |access-date=2020-10-21 |archive-date=2 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302132059/https://www.thearda.com/QL2010/QuickList_40.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2002 this community was picked for the establishment of the first [[Baháʼí House of Worship|Bahá'í Temple]] of South America.<ref name="alamb">{{cite book | last = Lamb  | first = Artemus  | title = The Beginnings of the Baháʼí Faith in Latin America:Some Remembrances, English Revised and Amplified Edition | publisher = M L VanOrman Enterprises  |date=November 1995  | location = West Linn, OR | url = http://bahai-library.com/lamb_bahai_latin_america}}</ref> The [[Santiago Baháʼí Temple]] was inaugurated in 2016 in [[Peñalolén]], in the Andean slopes over the city. After its dedication, the temple has become in an important landmark of the city, receiving thousands of visitors every month.
{{-}}

==Judaism==
{{Main|History of the Jews in Chile}}
[[File:Sinagoga Bicur Joilim, Santiago 20220529 10.jpg|thumb|Synagogue in Santiago de Chile]]
The earliest recorded Jew living in Chile was a [[converso]] by the name of Rodrigo de Orgonos who came with the expedition of [[Diego de Almagro]] in 1535. Conversos were widely persecuted until Chile gained independence from Spain in 1818. Even after independence, it was not until 1865 that a special law permitted non-Catholics to practice their religion in private homes and establish private schools.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/chile.html|title=Chile: Virtual Jewish History tour|publisher=[[Jewish Virtual Library]]|access-date=August 11, 2013}}</ref> As of the 2012 Chilean census, 16,294 Chilean residents listed their religion as Judaism.<ref>{{cite web|author=Marcos Fuentes T. |url=http://noticias.terra.cl/nacional/censo-comunidad-judia-duda-de-las-cifras-sobre-sus-fieles,dd4f5cfa64dcd310VgnVCM4000009bcceb0aRCRD.html |title=Censo: Comunidad Judía duda de las cifras sobre sus fieles - Terra Chile |publisher=Noticias.terra.cl |date=2013-09-13 |access-date=2013-09-21}}</ref>


==Islam==
{{Main|Islam in Chile}}
[[File:Mezquita de Coquimbo1.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Mosque in [[Coquimbo]].]]

The statistics for Islam in Chile estimate a total [[Muslim]] population of 3,196, representing 0.02 percent of the population.

Islam has enjoyed a long history in Chile. Aurelio Díaz Meza's ''Chronicles of the History of Chile'', one man in discoverer [[Diego de Almagro]]'s expedition, a certain Pedro de Gasco, was a ''[[morisco]]'' (that is, a [[Moors|Moor]] from [[al-Andalus]], [[Spain]], who had been obliged to convert from Islam to [[Roman Catholicism]]).  The first Islamic institution in Chile, the Muslim Union Society (''Sociedad Unión Musulmana''), was founded on September 25, 1926, at [[Santiago, Chile|Santiago]]. The Society of Mutual Aid and Islamic Charity was established the following year, on October 16, 1927. In Chile, Islam is primarily the result of Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian migrations from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Fleeing conditions in the Ottoman Empire, these Levantine immigrants and their descendants permanently settled in Chile and established the first Islamic institutions in the 1920s. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Chile has a growing Muslim community - but few know about it |url=https://news.yahoo.com/chile-growing-muslim-community-few-121248240.html |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=news.yahoo.com |date=17 September 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Hinduism==
{{Main|Hinduism in Chile}}
A few Indians had gone to [[Chile]] in the 1920s. The others migrated there about 30 years ago, not only from India, but also from [[Trinidad and Tobago]], [[Guyana]], [[Suriname]], [[Hong Kong]], [[Indonesia]], [[Nigeria]], [[Panama]], the [[Philippines]] and [[Singapore]]. The Hindu Community in Chile comprises more than 1400 members. Among these, 400 people (90 families) lives in the Capital city Santiago.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bcn.cl/observatorio/asiapacifico/noticias/barat-dadlani-comunidad-hindu-chile|title=Bharat Dadlani: "La comunidad hindú de Chile se siente como en casa" - Programa Asia Pacifico|last=Chile|first=Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de|date=2008-10-09|website=Observatorio Asiapacifico|language=es|access-date=2019-08-29}}</ref> Most of the Hindus in Chile are Sindhis. There is a Hindu Temple in [[Punta Arenas]] which provide services in both Sindhi and Spanish.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/keeping-cultures-alive-sindhis-and-hindus-in-chile/story-SArpBs0aDiHbhOXqjazqIP.html|title=Keeping cultures alive: Sindhis and Hindus in Chile|date=2015-08-02|website=Hindustan Times|language=en|access-date=2019-08-29}}</ref>


==Buddhism==
[[Buddhism]] first came to Chile by way of Japanese residents of Brazil migrating to the country. Though still a relatively small percentage of the population, it has grown significantly since the 1990s with 15 different centers across the country mostly of the Zen and Tibetan schools.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}

==Irreligion==
Of the Chilean population, in 2020, 36% do not practice any religion.<ref name="CADEM 2020">{{cite web |title=Estudio Monitoreo Post Plebiscito 2020 - 25 Octubre 2020 |url=https://www.cadem.cl/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Post-Plebiscito-VF.pdf |access-date=3 November 2020 |archive-date=14 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210814040140/https://www.cadem.cl/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Post-Plebiscito-VF.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In September 2011, a group of atheists founded the Atheist Society of Chile.<ref>{{Cite web|title=sociedadatea.cl|url=http://sociedadatea.cl/sitio/|access-date=2020-08-28|website=sociedadatea.cl}}</ref>

==Wicca==
According to the TV program ''Hola Chile'' on [[La Red (Chilean TV channel)|La Red]] TV channel there are at least 130 [[Wiccan]]s in the [[Valparaíso Region]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEEPtIbMscg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/kEEPtIbMscg |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Brujas de Valparaíso confiesan que practican la wicca|date=26 August 2015 |via=www.youtube.com}}{{cbignore}}</ref> There is also the ''Escuela de Brujas'' (''School of Witches'') in [[Independencia, Chile|Independencia]], [[Santiago Metropolitan Region]] that caters to the educational needs of Wiccans in the capitol region.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.espaciodeluz.cl/escuela-de-brujas|title=Escuela de Brujas Coven Wicca|website=Espacio de Luz}}</ref>

==Sikhism==
In 2016, after a four-year process, the Sikh religion received a legal status. The religion was introduced to Chile by Yogi Bhajan in the late 20th century.<ref>[https://www.hindustantimes.com/world/sikhs-get-legal-rights-in-chile-sikhism/story-ejVRnUX32RoHSBOAYGj4DO.html {{"'}}We will now be protected': Sikhs get legal rights in Chile"], ''[[Hindustan Times]]''</ref>

==See also==
* [[Benei Sión]]
* [[Chilean mythology]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{commonscat}}

==Further reading==
* [https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-report-on-international-religious-freedom/chile/ 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom: Chile] from the [[Office of International Religious Freedom]], June 2, 2022

{{Chile topics}}
{{South America topic|Religion in}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Religion In Chile}}
[[Category:Religion in Chile| ]]